


When Emma Met the Doctor

by everystareverywhere



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, crossover fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-23 02:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everystareverywhere/pseuds/everystareverywhere
Summary: Emma Swan was just living her normal day-to-day life when she suddenly met two time travelers willing to take her anywhere in the universe. And where they landed will change Emma's life forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Captain Swan Secret Santa fic for distant-rose. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 
> 
> Once again, I am so sorry this is late. And the rest is coming once I'm finished. 
> 
> If you're not familiar with Doctor Who, this first chapter goes into detail about the premise of the show and what exactly it's about. (Don't worry, Emma had no idea what was going on either, so eveything had to be explained to her). The second chapter is much more set in Once Upon a Time. 
> 
> I own absolutely nothing. Some lines from straight from Once Upon a Time and other come from Doctor Who.

Emma Swan calmly took her sip of her hot chocolate. She was early, but then again she always was when it came to meeting a skip. She wasn't certain if that's what everyone called them, but that's what she called them: a skip. A person who was dochebag, who skipped bail and chances are trying to find someone who has no idea who they are to spend the night with them. It made Emma's blood boil, really, to see them.

When the man, Ryan, walked into the cafe, Emma stood up slowly, acting as though she was unsure if this was the man she was waiting for or not. "Ryan?"

"Emma?" he asked in reply. He was about the same height as her with brown eyes and brown hair. He was remarkably forgetful. There wasn't anything about him, physically speaking, that would make Emma remember him tomorrow.

Emma gave a fake laugh, like she was so relieved this man in front of her was the person she wanted to meet all along. This was the part of gig that Emma both enjoyed and dreaded. She liked pretending that she was someone else. Someone who had a different life. Or maybe, just someone who _had_ a life, and not just went out when she needed to work or have to go to the grocery store. Someone who might have a family, have friends who care about her. At least, care enough to send a Christmas card.

Emma and Ryan sat at the small table and talked for a bit. He was babbling about something that made Emma want to yawn so badly, but she was able to resist. Just barely, however. Finally, she saw her opening and took it.

"Now, tell me, what do you see when you look at me?" she asked.

"Well, you're pretty. Smart." Emma raised an eyebrow and smiled encouragingly. "And one of the best listeners I've ever come across."

  
Emma pretended to be embarrassed, when really she was just setting herself up for what was to come next. "Okay, let me do you now." He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and she resisted doing a shiver. "You're handsome. Well-kept. The kind of guy, now correct me if I'm wrong, embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail." 

Ryan sat there with a stunned look on his face. Somewhere between a confused, happy, and almost panic. "What?"

Emma continued. "And the worst part is your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out. And how do you repay her? You go on a date."

At this point, he bowed his head and shook it. He looked back up, his charming smile long gone. "Who are you?"

"The chick who put up the rest of the bail money."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're a bail bondsman."

Emma cocked her head to the side before muttering, "Bail bonds _person_."

Ryan shook his head in disbelief again before jumping up and running out of the cafe, knocking into a woman who gasped in shock. Emma shook her head before slowly getting up and casually walking out.

She wasn't running after this one, since she booted his car before he even walked into the cafe (stupid man went to have a cigarette down the block and never even looked back at his car). She knew he wasn't going anyway.

And that's when she noticed it out of the corner of her eye.  

Emma stopped dead in her tracks. She saw a group of Santa Claus's playing different instruments, but there as something weird about them. Something that made Emma pause. That's when she noticed that there were actually wearing metal masks that just made them look like Santa. And the clothes that Santa normally wears were not adorned by them. Instead what they wore was much more like a cloak then a suit. But their faces. That's what caught her attention. They looked so fake, so metallic. The eyes, honestly, were what scared her the most. They were just two big round circle with little black dots in the middle. 

And what made her pause was no tip jar. It was a odd thing to notice, she will admit, but still. There were about four or five men there and not one of them wanted a tip?

Emma knew that she had to go after Ryan, make sure that he wasn't making a run for it. He most likely was at this point, but Emma just focused on the Santas instead. When they finished their song, they lowered their instruments from their mouths and then proceeded to point them like a gun. Right at a blonde woman standing not ten feet away from them.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, but to Emma it was going in slow motion. When she realized what could happen, she screamed out, "Watch out!" to the blonde woman before proceeding to run towards her. Emma knocked the woman to the ground, going down with her. And she wasn't certain, but suddenly she felt an intense heat on her back, as though there was a fire behind her. And sure enough, there was. For the "Santa" holding the tuba was blasting fire, and the two trumpet players were blasting out fire as well.

The woman underneath her gently pushed Emma off, who was scrambling to get up without getting burnt. Emma tried to grab her hand to run, but the woman shook it off. "It's fine," the woman, who had a British accent, told Emma. "I'm fine. You need to go!"

"Are you crazy?! Those robots are blasting fire! You need to get out of here too!" Emma looked up, and those Santas were walking right towards them. "Now!"

Once more, the woman shook her off. "Believe me, I've seen them before. I know how to get rid of them."

Emma was certain that the woman knocked her head. What in the world was she talking about? " _Get rid of them_ "? As though they were just pesky flies around a dinner plate? The woman was crazy, but for some reason Emma couldn't leave her until she knew that she was safe.

When Emma once more looked up and saw that the Santas were getting close, both she and the woman did run, though not nearly as far as Emma would have liked. Instead of running for blocks, the woman stopped behind a column and hid, grabbing Emma's arm and pulling her closer.

"Listen to me," the woman whispered. "I know what these things are."

"They are people who need to be arrested, that's for damn sure."

"No," the woman replied. And Emma was certain that she misheard the next sentence, "They're not people. They're aliens."

Now Emma wasn't certain if the woman was crazy or racist.

"What in the world...?"

"You need to leave!" the woman told her.

"I need to stop them!" Emma insisted. "I have connections with the police."

The woman shook her head. "Don't worry about that. I know someone is going to stop them."

"Yeah? Who?"

Just then, a man came running over towards them, slightly out of breath. He was a tall man, with brown hair that was just long enough that he could spike it up, giving him a just-rolled-out-of-bed-and quickly-brushed-my-hair look. He also had a long oval face with a little crooked nose, thin lips, and a dusting of freckles over his nose and cheeks. He was also incredibly thin, wearing a pinstripe suit and a trench coat over it that went down to his ankles. On his feet were off-white Converses.

His brown eyes showed the concern he had for the woman beside Emma. "Rose!" he said when he reached them. He quickly grabbed her in a hug before pulling back. "Are you okay?"

"'m fine, Doctor. This woman here saved me from being a roasted marshmallow," the woman - Rose - replied as she gestured to Emma.

The man - Doctor? - proceeded to also grab Emma in a hug. "Oh, thank you!" Just as quickly as he grabbed her, he let her go making her stumble back. Emma couldn't say a word, for the man began talking a mile a minute. "I don't know what I would do without my Rose. But those Santas, you remember them, Rose? From when I changed? The pilot fish? Blimely, they haven't changed have they? And it's been how long? Ten years? More or less. I think we're in 2017, but I could be wrong by a couple of years. Based off of the technology and the read from the sonic screwdriver, I would say 2017, but it also could be 2018 or 2019 --"

Finally, Rose shut him up. "Doctor!" she yelled. "Get rid of the Santas!"

"Right. Of course. Allons-y!" he called before leaving the two women and running towards the Santas.

Emma looked over at the other blonde woman. There were about the same height, both with blonde hair. Only the other woman's hair reached her chin while Emma's was all the way down her back. The woman was wearing very basic clothes, a blue button-down and jeans with regular sneakers on her feet. Unlike her partner who just is wearing a trenchcoat, the woman, Rose, is wearing a black parka.

"Er, what just happened?" Emma asked.

"The Doctor," the woman replied. "That's what happened."

"Okay, but doctor what? Who is that man?"

The woman shook her head with a small smile. "You won't believe me in a million years."

Emma got her back up. She looked straight at the woman before crossing her arms over her chest. "Try me."

Rose looked over at Emma and must have been looking for something. And she must have found it for she said, "Okay, fine. His name is The Doctor. No other name. He's an alien from the planet of Gallifrey. He's a Time Lord."

"A _what_?"

"Time Lord."

That really didn't clarify anything for Emma. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it sorta means he's charge of time. Well, kind of. He can certainly travel through time."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Time traveler? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Can travel throughout time and space, he can. I'm a time traveler too."

Emma felt like she had fell through a rabbit hole and was now having the oddest conversation ever. "You're kidding me?"

"Nope. For me, the year is 2006. My mum and best friend, Mickey, are waiting for me back in London."

"And they know you travel? In time?"

"Oh, I do more than just travel in time! We go to different planets! I've been on Women's Wept - so beautiful. The whole planet just froze over. Just like that, completely froze over. I stood there under an ice covered wave. Unbelievable I tell you."

Emma shook her head, certain that she must have hit her head sometime in last half hour. "None of what you're currently saying could be true."

"It very much is. For me, this is the future."

"So have you been in the past? Like a long time ago?"

"Yep. I've met Charles Dickens."

"Seriously?"

"And Queen Victoria. I've also been to when the Earth exploded."

Emma may need to sit down. That is, if she actually believed any of this. "Oh, you're full of crap. Nothing you're saying could possibly be true. That guy's name is probably Dave or Chris or something simple. You two are probably pulling a joke for Youtube or something."

"What's Youtube?" Rose asked.

Emma raised an eyebrow before looking around. "Ha ha, very funny," she said with no sense of humor in her voice. "Now, where is your camera? How are you filming this? What are you using? An iPhone?"

"A what?"

"An iPhone. Or a Samsung Galaxy?"

Rose put her hand into her pocket and pulled out a phone Emma hasn't seen in years. A Nokia phone. A simple device that could probably play only one game (Snake, was a pretty good chance) and not get any kind of internet connection at all. "I use this. This phone allows me to call anyone I want. Well, that's mainly because the Doctor did some jiggery-pockery to it."

"He did _what_?" Emma asked, picking up the phone and holding it like it was an antique. Emma couldn't remember the last time she saw a phone like that. A decade, certainly.

Emma pulled her iPhone 7 out of her pocket before showing it to Rose. "iPhone. From Apple," she said, before giving it a small shake.

Rose looked at it with wonder. "Wow! That's a phone!? Blimely, where are the numbers?"

  
Emma pressed the small round circle at the bottom of the phone letting it turn on. "It's a touch screen." At the look of amazement on Rose's face, Emma continued. "You have seriously never seen one before?"

"No," Rose said before taking the phone and looking at it with interest. She accidentally hit the weather app, and seemed surprised when the weather came up with the current temperature. "Oh, this is lovely!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Emma cocked her head to the side, looking at the woman in front of her. Emma always prided herself on the ability to be able to tell if someone was lying and currently no alarms were going off in her head. So either her "system" was broken, or this woman was currently telling the truth.

Just as Emma was going to make another comment, the Doctor ran back over to them. "All taken care of. _Well_ , that is to say that they have disappeared for now. Pilot fish usually mean something bigger is afoot, though what I have no idea."

"Pilot fish? Something bigger...What are you talking about?"

The Doctor looked at Emma as though he has seen her before but he can't remember from where. "Have we met before?"

"Yeah. Like five minutes ago."

"Blimely, my memory is bad. Something that comes from old age, right Rose?" He winked at the other woman before looking back at Emma. "Well, I don't think I got your name. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler."

"Emma Swan."

"Emma Swan," the Doctor said with a smile. "Like a name in a fairy tale."

Emma snorted at that but continued with the question she had in mind. "Who are you, exactly? Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor."

Emma paused before asking, "Seriously?"

"Yep," he replied with a pop on the 'p.' "Well, we must be off, places to go, people to meet. You know who I always wanted to met Rose? Agatha Christie. Oh, I bet she would be fascinating to meet."

"Wait, Doctor," Rose said before he started on a long babbling soliloquy. "I was just telling Emma here about how we're time travelers. Well, if she wants, can she come along with us?"

The Doctor looked at Rose before giving a big smile that seemed to light up his face. "Well, of course!" he joyously replied. "The more the merrier, I always say."

"I don't think you have ever said that before," Rose replied. She turned to Emma before asking, "Well, what do you think? Want to travel anywhere in anytime?"

Emma crossed her arms and tried to think about how badly this situation could end. Her dead body in a dumpster was surely high on the list of what she was picturing, but she had to admit a small part of her was insanely curious. Were they telling the truth? Could they really travel through time and space? And where exactly could they end up?

Emma wanted to know the answers to all of those questions.

"Okay," she finally replied, lowering her arms. "Sounds like fun. Oh!" she said suddenly remembering something. "I have to get Ryan."

"Who's that?"

"This guy who I was going to bring to the police. He's wanted for bailing on his court date."

"Ah, well, we do have a time machine. We can simply go back five minutes and you'll catch him."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Oh yes!" he replied enthusiastically.

"Okay," she replied. She tried not to sound hesitant, but she kind of was. Hearing that a time machine was real was not was she expected when she woke up this morning.

"Come on," the Doctor said before turning on the balls of his feet and walking in the other direction. Rose gave a big smile before taking Emma's arm and walking along side.

"I promise you it is a trip of a lifetime," she said to Emma. "You won't regret it. I've been doing this for...well, I don't actually know how long I've been doing this. You lose all sense of time when you can travel through it." Emma didn't know what to say, so she remained quiet. Rose seemed to sense her hesitation and continued. "It's like Christmas, right? Only happens once a year. But when you time travel, Christmas can happen again and again and again. Like, I had Christmas with Charles Dickens, yeah? But I've also had Christmas in 2006, with my mum and boyfriend, Mickey. Well, he's not really my boyfriend now. We sort of broke up."

Sensing a topic that sounded somewhat normal, Emma clung to it. "What happened?" 

She nodded her head towards the Doctor in front of her. "Well, he came along and took me with him. Mickey wasn't overly thrilled, as I'm sure you can imagine. And the fact that I disappeared for like a year with no warning or anything made my mum scared to death and certain that Mickey had something to do with it."

"That must have been an awkward Christmas." Then what she said caught up with Emma and she asked, "Wait, you disappeared for a year? How did that happen? I thought he can travel throughout time, no problem."

"Well, when you can travel through time, there are certain rules. One of which is you can't go back on your own time line. Once I was seen in 2006, I couldn't go back to 2005. My timeline was set. If we went back, it would have created a paradox."

Emma shook her head. "And I thought this was all just make believe from the movies."

Rose hugged her arm as she said, "Trust me, with the Doctor, _nothing_ is make believe."

"Ah!" The Doctor shouted from up ahead. He was standing in front of a big blue box that was about eight feet high and four feet across. Across the top it said: POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX with a small light on the very top. "Home, sweet home."

Emma stopped and looked at the box. "Seriously? You don't have a DeLorean or anything?"

"Nah," the Doctor said, actually taking out a key and putting it into the small key hole on the one door. Emma cocked her head to the side. A time machine/spaceship uses a key to get into? "The T.A.R.D.I.S. is a thousand times better than any old car."

"A what?" Emma asked.

"T.A.R.D.I.S."

"A what?" Emma asked again, certain she had misheard.

"T.A.R.D.I.S."

"That's not a proper word," Emma accused .

"It's an acronym," Rose informs her. "Stands for _Time And Relative Dimensions In Space_."

"Oh," Emma simple answered.

The Doctor opened the door and he and Rose grinned at each other before walking in. Emma wondered how in the world all three of them were going to fit inside of the box. It was not that big. It would definitely be a small squeeze.

Emma's hesitation came front and center and she had second thoughts about all of this. All she could see were the headlines saying _Orphan Girl Found Dead in a Big Blue Box_.

Both the Doctor and Rose went into the box and Emma stood there, berating herself for thinking this was a good idea. What in the world could she have possible been thinking!? Going into a strange box with people she barely knows?! And why? Because they claimed it could time travel! She had to have been the biggest idiot in the world for thinking any part of that was possibly true!

She was just shaking her head and calling herself every name in the book when Rose popped her head out. "What's taking ya so long?"

"Maybe this isn't a good idea..." Emma started before Rose came out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and stood in front of her.

"It's scary. I get that, actually. I had the same thoughts you're having, only I had them when I was five million years away looking at the Earth dying. You have to trust me. As the Doctor once told me, you can go anywhere in the universe, free of charge."

To someone like Emma, someone lost and alone, this was honestly the trip of a lifetime. No one would be waiting for her return, and the ability to go anywhere sounded really appealing to a lost child. Before she could reason with herself, Emma nodded and said, "Let's go."

Rose smiled before taking Emma's hand and leading her inside. "Emma Swan, welcome to the T.A.R.D.I.S."

The moment she walked in, Emma's jaw hit the floor. She was certain she was not seeing things correctly. "This can't be possible," she muttered to herself. She looked around in amazement before walking back outside and looking at the box. An eight-foot box, four feet across she would say. If she tried, she could probably touch both ends of the box at the same time. But when she popped her head inside, it told another story.

For the inside of the box was bigger than her living quarters. There was a ramp leading up to what had to be the console. It was a huge octagon with so many buttons in it, Emma was certain that there were more than a airplane console would have. Dead center was a huge tube with some sort of lever inside. There were pillars that looked like coral found in the ocean, and the whole room actually gave a bluish glow even though the walls had a faint orange tint to them. There was a small bench that looked well used behind the console and beside that was another ramp leading to another doorway.

"How is this...How...not possible...It's--"

"Bigger on the inside," Rose finished with a smile.

Emma nodded dumbly. "Yeah, yeah, it is."

"Well, where do you want to go?" asked the Doctor who was running back and forth along the console. He was pushing what looked to be random buttons, but Emma was certain there had to be a reason for all of them. "Anywhere in the entire universe, at your disposable."

Emma couldn't quite get over the shock of the room. There was certainly enough space for the three of them. Hell, they could probably get half of the Boston population in it. "Oh, um, I'm not really sure. Somewhere amazing," she said almost in a daze. A little firmer she continued, "Somewhere you have never been before."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh, I like you." He began running faster around the console, pressing buttons, even hitting a few with a big mallet.

Suddenly there was a loud noise almost like an old car refusing to turn over, only much more ancient. And then the T.A.R.D.I.S started tilting side to side, and if it wasn't for the guardrail a few feet from the console, Emma would have been thrown onto the walls.

Holding tight to the rail, Emma asked Rose, "Does he know how to drive this thing?"

Rose replied, "He's actually gotten better than when I started."

That did little to comfort Emma.

Then, all at once there was a loud bang and the room came to a standstill. Emma was still clinging to the railing before slowly prying her fingers off as Rose and the Doctor looked at the screen on the console.

"So," Emma asked once she had fully let go. "Where are we?"

The Doctor smiled. Rose smiled brighter. "That's half the fun!" she proclaimed before running to the doors of the TARDIS. "We don't know 'til we look!"

"Wait!" Emma yelled, but the Doctor was right behind Rose and walked out. Emma had no choice but the follow them.

When she exited, however, she felt like she could have been anywhere. For around them was nothing but trees. Trees, trees, and more trees.

"Really? A forest. We could be anywhere! We could be in Central Park."

Just then they heard the hooves of many horses off in the distance. And just beyond the trees, they could see people riding horseback, a lovely covered carriage being pulled quickly. The clothes the people on horseback did not look like anyone Emma has ever seen before. Well, that's not true, she had seen those clothes before. But they were usually from a movie.

For the men on horseback wore clothes that screamed regal. They were dressed almost like knights, wearing silver garments with red cloth over it with some sort of crest. The carriage looked like something from _Cinderella_ \- a huge pumpkin shaped transport painted in white with wheels that almost seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Two men sat up in the front, each holding the rein of a horse.

"Are you certain that we're not in Central Park?" Emma asked. Someone could be getting married and they are just driving through the park.

The Doctor took a long metal tube out of his pocket and held it out and up pressing a button that made the tip of it turn blue and a low buzzing sound emitting. "No, definitely not Central Park. We're not even on Earth, I don't think."

"Well, then where exactly are we?" Emma was starting to think that her driver had no idea where they were exactly.

"Well," the Doctor started to say, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not entirely certain, but I do we think are in a place named Misthaven. But that's - that's - that's impossible!"

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Because Misthaven...Well, it also has another name, but it's just...Can't be true."

"Doctor, where the hell are we?!" Emma all but shouted at him.

"We're in the Enchanted Forest." When neither woman made any sound, he continued. "You know, like from a fairy tale."

"Are you telling us that you think we're in a fairy tale?" Emma asked.

"No," he replied sternly. "We're in the land where fairy tale characters actually exist.

"Wait a minute," Emma stopped walking and turned to the Doctor. "'Where fairy tales actually exist'? Are you saying fairy tale characters are real?!"

"Certainly."

"So Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, all real people?" Rose asked looking around the trees. "So that carriage could have had famous princess on it?"

"Could have been."

"That can't be real," Emma shook her head. "Fairy tale character aren't real. They were made up by the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson to teach children about not lying and always be good and other crap like that."

The Doctor looked so serious, he almost looked like a professor ready to scold their student. "Where exactly do you think they heard the stories from? I'm going to assume you studied history in your classes in school. How did you learn history?"

"My teacher explained it to us."

"And where did the teacher get it from, huh? A book,  I'm going to presume. Someone wrote down the stories about what happened in your past so you would learn from it. Why would fairy tales be any different?"

They continued walking. Emma shook her head, trying to get it into her mind that not only was time travel possible, but so was going through different dimensions. Also, Snow White, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack from "Jack and Beanstalk" were real living people.

She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

"This is idiotic," she said after a few minutes of silent walking. She stopped and the other two followed suit. "This is completely idiotic. I mean, fairy tales don't exist! They're just a story!"

"We're all stories in the end."

"Thank you, Aristotle," she replied sarcastically. "I just...I appreciate you bringing me along, but I think I'm going to go back to T.A.R.D.I.S. I just...this isn't for me. You guys go have your fun and I'll...I see you back at the T.A.R.D.I.S."

"Emma, are you sure? There is more to see than a forest, I'm sure," Rose replied, stepping forward a bit.

"No, I'm certain. I just...I can't wrap my head around this. I'll meet you at the T.A.R.D.I.S when you're finished."

Emma turned around before either of them said another word and walking back from where she came.

~*~*~

He sensed it. Nothing got by him, not when intruders came. Especially when they didn't come by land or sea. No, something was new. Something was different.

Quickly getting up from his seat, he ran towards his tower, the one that contained all of his magic. All of his spellbooks, all of his ingredients. And that one thing he needed right now - his crystal ball.

Once he was settled, he took the cloth off of the ball and waved his hands around it, muttering a spell to activate it. For there he saw three people talking. These three people were wearing the most unusual clothing, which made them stick out right away.  But it was the one with the red jacket, something about her that made the man sit up and take notice. When she turned around, he got a clear view of her and almost fell off of his chair in shock.

"No!" he yelled to no one. "No, it can't be Emma!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was supposed to be only two chapters, but now it's going to be more than that. I'm not exactly sure how long, but it will probably be about four to five chapters long.

Emma was lost.

All she was trying to do was find her way back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. But she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because she could not find her way.  

She spun around, just to see if anything look familiar, but unfortunately she was in a forest. So every tree looked like the one from before. She stayed on the dirt road, hoping that eventually she would just find that blasted time machine, but no big blue box was in view. 

Emma continued walking when she bumped into someone. Before Emma clearly knew what was happening, the person grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her off of the "road" and further into the forest. Before she could yell more than a "Hey!" the person, a man, clomped his hand over her mouth and looked with anxious eyes out towards the beaten path.

While he was distracted, Emma started breathing heavily, her blood boiling, her heart pounding. If he didn't let her go within the next five seconds, she would not be held accountable for her actions. Her hands slowly made fists and her brow furrowed. His hand (which was had three heavy rings on it) was covering her mouth, but not to the point that she couldn't move it. 

"What the hell?" she asked from beneath his hand. But because it was covered, it sounded more like "Hazz tzz hzz."

The man shushed her. His body was close to hers, to the point that if she moved five inches forward, they would be chest to chest. He was wearing a heavy leather jacket with a red vest underneath. Since he wasn't looking at her, she could only make out his profile which showed a longish nose and a bit of a chin. His hair was much like the Doctor's in its style, but it was much darker. Almost to the point of black. And unlike the Doctor, this man had a nice stumble going on.  

Emma was about to make another comment, this one including some words harsher than "hell" when she heard something she didn't notice before: the sound of horses. They were definitely running, at full gallop she would imagine. Was he running from a stampede? Then she turned her head to see not one, but six horses going by, two of which were pulling a black carriage, while the other four held men completely dressed in black, even their faces.

When they finally passed, the man backed up and let go of her mouth. "Sorry about that, love. But I don't need the Evil Queen finding me." He had a British accent. Of course he did. What was with all the British accents all of a sudden?

Emma stared at the man in shock. First it was because of what he said. _Evil Queen_? Was he _serious_? Then it was because of his face. Oh, he was handsome. He had a long, full face, with a pronounced goatee,  and the stumble certainly enhanced his jawline. But what made her really pause was his blue eyes. She was certain that she _must_ have seen eyes that blue before, but she certainly couldn't remember. They were stunning.

And they were currently checking her out.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he smirked.

Emma rolled her eyes. She was no longer intrigued by his appearance (though, _hot damn_ , really). She was now more annoyed. "What we have here is a really pissed off woman. Who was that? Why were you hiding from them? Was that seriously the Evil Queen? Like from _Snow White_?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You don't know the Evil Queen? How is that possible?"

Emma gestured to herself. "Do I look like I belong here?" 

The man once more looked her up and down. She wasn't exactly upset by that, since she _kind of_ invited him to do so. But he was taking way too much time. "Can't say that you do, love."

Emma knew she stuck out in her leather jacket and tight jeans with boots. She may not have actually seen anyone about, but she knew how people dressed in fairy tales, thanks to the movies. But instead of feeling awkward about it, this man made Emma feel...like she was something of interest. Something exciting. And probably for him living in this forest, Emma's clothes were something interesting.

"Right. So, since I don't belong here, explain to me why you're scared of the Evil Queen."

"I'm not s _cared_ of her!" he proclaimed.

Emma folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her chin. "Could of fooled me. You ran when you heard the carriage coming and made sure that neither of us made a peep. I would say that is the actions of a guilty conscience."

"Not a guilty conscience. Just one that owes a lot of debts. And I don't exactly what to pay them back. At least, not until I'm back on my ship."

"Your ship...?" Emma started to ask when she looked down and noticed something very odd indeed. Instead of a left hand, the man had a hook. And honest-to-God silver hook. How had she not noticed that before?

But then it suddenly it came to her. She's in a land full of fairy tale characters. The accent. A ship. His hook. That could only mean..."Oh my God. You're _Captain Hook_!"

He smirked again. "Ah, you've heard of me."

Emma shook her head. This was getting ridiculous. "I can't believe you're freaking Captain Hook. I mean, they couldn't have been more wrong about your appearance, but still--"

"What, wait? My appearance? They were wrong? Who was wrong?" 

"Not important right now. What's important is that I need to find someone. Well, two people actually. And I have no idea where to start." 

"Well, I can certainly lend you my talents in finding whoever it may be." 

"Aren't you good on water? And running away from a crocodile that ticks like a clock?"

His eyebrows pinched together. "What?"

She waved her hand. "Nevermind. I need to find a man and a woman. Their names are Rose Tyler and the Doctor. Have you heard of them? Or heard anything about them?"

He shook his head. "No, love. Can't say that I have. However, if we stick together we might be able to locate them. As it may be, I know a lot of people on land who might be able to help in the journey."

Emma sighed. "Well, I don't really have a lot of options and I do need to find them so that I can get home. Okay, you can come along as well. I guess."

Hook gave a genuine smile, and _Holy. Crap._ "It would be my honor." He held out his hand. "I'm Killian Jones, by the way, though people do call me Hook. What's your name, love?"

She took his hand. "Emma Swan."

He gave a small kiss on the knuckles before lowering her hand. "Emma Swan. I liked that."

 

~*~

 

"So, Doctor, what exactly are we looking for?" Rose asked, giving a small skip before taking the Doctor's arm and wrapping herself on it.

He simply smiled before saying, "What we always look for, Rose. Adventures."

She smiled as well. "Or trouble, as Mum would say."

"Ah, like I told Jackie, trouble's just the little bits in between. Certainly there would be nothing but peace and quiet in a small fairy tale town."

Rose snorted. "Have you actually _read_ a fairy tale? There's always a witch or warlock or someone who wants power and therefore causes trouble."

"And the brave princess, prince, street rat, what have you, they save everyone. We might not need to do anything."

As appealing as it would be to enjoy the quiet, that actually upset Rose a bit. "Would be nice, to just enjoy the scenery."

The Doctor laughed. "I'm sure someone, somewhere will be having a crisis."

Rose smiled at that. "I'm sure." They were quiet again, when Rose asked, "How do you think Emma's making out? Think she found the T.A.R.D.I.S?"

"Hope so. Can't believe that she didn't want to go exploring."

"Some people can't handle it."

"Like that bloke, Adam was it? Fainted when he realized that he was so far from home."

"Hey! I thought we promised never to mention him again. Big mistake bringing him on board, I get that now."

The Doctor laughed again. Once he quieted down, Rose wondered out loud, "I wonder what Emma's story is. She seemed hesitate about coming on board, but she didn't say anything about a family or even friends. And now she's skittish about being here."

He shrugged. "We could ask her the next we see her."

Rose looked over her shoulder. "Maybe we should go back. Take her home, yeah?"

The Doctor stopped, causing Rose to stop as well. "Yeah, we should."

They turned around and headed back towards the T.A.R.D.I.S.

 

~*~

 

"So, where are you from?"

Emma looked over at Hook. She raised an eyebrow. "I don't do small talk."

"Do you talk at all?"

"I'm just focusing on trying to get home."

"And where is that?" 

She shook her head. Somehow she knew he wasn't going to let it go. Not giving a direct answer, she simply responded, "It ain't Neverland."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye before responding, "Ah, but an orphan's an orphan, no matter where you're from."

She stopped and looked at him. "Why would you say that?"

"I had been on that island a long time, lass. I've seen the look in the Lost Boys eyes. The look of being betrayed by the ones who are supposed to protect you the most."

"And what, you see that in my eyes? That's bullshit."

He raised an eyebrow. "First the outfit, now the language. Are you sure you're not a pirate in this land you've come from?"

"No, I'm not a pirate." She turned and continued walking. "Where in _hell_ are we?"

"The Enchanted Forest."

"Yeah, no, I got that part. But I mean what _part_ of the Enchanted Forest? I haven't seen anyone else on this path. Where the hell are the villages?"

"You've got a mouth on you, don't you?"

"You have a problem with how I talk?" she turned towards him quickly.

"No, lass," he replied, "I'm simply trying to make out your character."

"And what have you discovered?"

He smirked. "Probably more than you would like. You're a bit of an open book."

She raised her eyebrows at that. "Oh really?"

"Aye."

She crossed her arms. "And just what have you discovered?"

He looked at her before standing up straight and answering, "You're an orphan. Based on how you hold yourself, I'm going to say you were quite young when you were left. Your outfit, though alluring, is meant to keep people away. Like an armor, almost. And you pride yourself on being unreadable, but lass, you should never go up against someone who knows _exactly_ what you've gone through."

"Which is what?"

He shrugged, as though his answer wasn't that big of a deal. "Pain. Abandonment. Betrayal. I could go on, really."

He continued walking as she caught her breath. He was right on the button, actually, and that scared her a bit. How did he know...

That's when she tilted her head to the side a bit before running after him. She forced him to stop by grabbing his arm as she said, "You've been betrayed. That's how you know how it feels."

"I believe the saying is 'Takes one to know one.'" 

"Yeah, it is. But what I mean is, you're more than just that pirate on Neverland who wanted to kill Peter Pan. I'll be honest, never quite knew why though. But how were you betrayed? Who hurt you?"

He clicked his tongue before continue to walk. "This isn't about me, love."

"Like hell, it's not," she accused as she walked beside him. "You can read me, but I can't read you? What about 'Takes one to know one'?"

"Fine!" he shouted as he turned towards her. "You want to know about me? I was betrayed, it's true. I know the pain, the heartache. It's not something I wish to go through again. I'm simply trying to make conversation."

"Why? As soon I find the Doctor and Rose, I'm outta here. Why do you care about me?"

He simply looked at her for a moment before asking, "Why do you ask such a question, as though you're not important?"

Her eyes grew large and she was certain her stomach fell. Why indeed.

But before she could respond, they heard a scream. Both of them went running towards the sound, cutting through the forest. Emma was sure that if she wasn't wearing her red leather jacket, she would have certainly scratched up her arms, thanks to all the small branches.

When they finally did make it to another road, all Emma could see was a carriage, a smallish one that was brown and had only one horse driving it. But there was definitely a scream coming from it. As Emma and Hook ran towards it, the carriage took off, as though there was someone driving it. However, except for the screaming woman, Emma did not see another person near that carriage.

"What the hell?" she muttered as she saw something from the corner of her eye. Out from another patch of trees, were the Doctor and Rose, clearly coming when they heard the woman screaming.

"Help me!" the woman screamed. She reached out a hand from between the bars. "Help!"

The four of them chased after the carriage, trying to get as close to it as they could without getting hurt. The Doctor reached out and actually grabbed the woman's hand, but he was no match for the speed, though he was the fastest of the four. The woman's hand slipped out of his and they both screamed, "No!" as the carriage moved faster.

The Doctor collapsed on his knees, taking deep breathes. Emma, Rose, and Hook caught up with him, Rose kneeling beside him. "Doctor? Are you alright?"

The Doctor  shook his head. "Too fast," he muttered. He then opened his hand, and in the middle of his palm laid a ring. Emma picked it up between her fingers to look at it closer. It was a silver ring with a green emerald. It was simple, yet elegant.

"I don't recognize that ring from any story," Rose muttered. Emma put the ring on her finger, to make sure she knew where it was. 

"Me either. Hook?" 

The man shook his head. The Doctor and Rose both looked at the new addition. Rose's eyes almost bugged out of her head when she got a good look at him.

"Hello! Who's this?" she asked.

"Doctor, Rose, I'd like you to meet Captain Hook. Hook, these are the people I was talking about. The Doctor and Rose."

"Pleasure," Hook said with a small bow.

"All mine, I assure you," Rose grinned. The Doctor huffed before saying, "Yeah. Nice to meet you."

"Wait - You're Captain Hook?" Rose asked. "Like from _Peter Pan_?"

"Er, aye. I think."

Rose shook her head. "Wow, was your appearance wrong in the movie."

Killian yelled, "What did they get wrong about me appearance?!"

"Pretty much everything," Rose smirked.

"Can we focus, please?" the Doctor asked. "A woman just went missing. Do we have any idea who it might have been?"

"No," Emma answered. "But did anyone else notice that there was no driver?"

The Doctor nodded. "I did notice that. Which means one thing."

"Trouble?" Rose asked with a smirk.

The Doctor gave a small smile. "Well, yes. But also magic."

"I didn't think magic was real," Emma replied.

The Doctor simply waved his hand as he replied, "Magic is different all over. Your magic, for example, is science. You use math and science and you can split the atom. Here, it's a little more complicated than that."

"I assure you, magic here is extremely complicated," Hook said.

"You don't use chemistry or equations?" Emma asked.

  
Hook raised an eyebrow. "No," he responded, unsure. "People use potions. Spells."

"Spellbook?" 

"Aye." 

"So magic was pulling that carriage?" Rose asked. When Hook nodded, she continued, "Anyway you could know someone that powerful to kidnap a woman and pull a carriage without being near the site?"

"Just because we didn't see someone doesn't mean they aren't nearby," Emma pointed out.

"Smart lass," Hook muttered. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Swan's right. It could be any number of people. Magic is quite common, unfortunately."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Do you not like magic, Captain?"

"Magic comes with a price," he said, as though he heard that saying many times in the past. "I've learned to just live without it."

"But wasn't there magic on Neverland?" Emma asked. "That's how everyone stayed young."

"Aye. And I paid the price for living with that kind of magic."

"You don't look any worse for wear," Rose flirted. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"I've well over two hundred years old," Hook replied.

  
"Oh, he's got you beat," Rose smirked, tapping the Doctor on the chest. "He's over nine hundred years old."

Emma and Hook looked at the young looking man. "Seriously?" she asked.

"And I didn't have pixie dust," the Doctor joked.                 

"We're getting off track," Emma responded, holding up her hands. "We need to find that woman."  

"That carriage is long gone now," Hook pointed out. "I suggest we go into town and see if people there know anything about a missing woman."

They agreed before walking.

 

~*~

 

Rose walked up to Emma and gestured to the two men in front of them. "So, how did you two meet? I thought you were going back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.?"

"I was. I got lost. Hook was hiding from the Evil Queen and grabbed me so that I wouldn't be seen either."

"Hmm, romantic," Rose laughed.

"Oh yeah," Emma responded sarcastically. "Definitely the beginning of a love story."

Rose giggled. She quieted down before asking, "So what's your story? You know a bit about mine. From 2006 London. Mum and boyfriend waiting for me back home."

"Yeah, how did you meet the Doctor?"

"He blew up my job."

"Hmm, romantic," Emma joked.

Rose laughed as well before quieting down. "No, but seriously, there was an alien invasion in London in 2005 and he stopped it. I was right beside him, only because our paths kept crossing. Then he told me he could travel anywhere in time and space and...Well, I couldn't say no."

"So how long have you been traveling with him? I mean, I know you travel through time, but...I don't know how to ask this without being confusing."

"I know what you mean. And honestly, I can't tell you. I mean, you lose all sense of time in the T.A.R.D.I.S."

Emma hummed. "Makes sense."

"But you still haven't told me your story."

"Not much to tell," Emma mumbled.

"Oh, come on," Rose urged.

  
Seeing how there probably wasn't a village for a couple of miles, Emma sighed. "Fine." She was silent, but Rose didn't urge her again. Finally, Emma said, "I was abandoned when I was only a month old. I was found on the side of a road. I was then shipped off to foster house to foster house, never once finding a family that I could call my own. When I was sixteen, I had enough and ran away."

Emma grew silent. Rose asked in a low voice, "Well, since you're obviously not a teenager, what happened next?"

Emma shifted her shoulder, clearly uncomfortable. "What is with the sudden interest in my life?"

Rose held up her hands. "I'm just trying to - "

"Make conversation," they finished together.

Emma shook her head. "You can take a lesson from him," she said, gesturing to Hook.

"Life sucks, I get that," Rose finally said in a low voice. "And, though I had a tough childhood, it was nothing compared to what you've gone through.  And the Doctor and I...we just want to help people. Maybe we can help you locate your parents...?"

"No!" Emma said firmly. "They didn't want me, so why in the world would I go looking for them?"

Rose shrugged. "Aren't you curious about where you came from?"

Of course she was curious, who wouldn't be? But she didn't want to show that vulnerable side, especially to someone she just met. So instead, she shook her head and just said, "No."

After a moment, Rose nodded. "Okay." And she let the conversation drop.

About thirty minutes later, Hook finally yelled, "There's a village up ahead."

The village was something out of movie. It was certainly small, and the buildings were made with either bricks or some sort of clay that looked extremely strong. There were vendors all over the street, urging the four of them (or anyone really) to sample, just _sample_ , the amazing foods they had. Everything they had made Emma's stomach turn and she simply shook her head no.

The four of them did ask people in town if they had heard anything about a missing woman. Though some offered information, it was clearly not someone who went missing recently. Finally, Hook suggested getting some refreshments in the local pub and a beer sounded really good to Emma at that moment.

The four found a table off to the side, and Hook went off to get drinks.

"This is fun!" Rose commented. The Doctor smiled as he took everything in. "Don't really read about pubs in a fairy tale story."

"Too much magic and destruction for the prince to go off and get a pint, huh," Emma observed.

When Hook returned, he gave each a stein before sitting next to Emma and taking a gulp.

The Doctor sniffed his drink before asking, "What's this?"

"Rum," Hook responded.

Emma nodded. "So some stereotypes are true." But needing a drink so badly, Emma picked it up and took a gulp. It's burned going down, but otherwise wasn't too bad.

Rose had just opened her mouth to say something when knights walked in. They were clearly not from the Evil Queen, but rather from the new King and Queen. As Emma had seen before, the knights wore silver garments and a red cloth over it which had a crest on it.

One knight stood forward, and cleared this throat before projecting, "We come with despairing news. The Queen, Her Royal Highness, Snow White of Misthaven, has been taken. Does anyone have any knowledge of this capture?" When no one spoke, the knight continued, "Ten thousand pounds will be given to anyone who has any information in her disappearance." Suddenly at least two dozen people got up and either ran over with information or ran out the door in hopes of finding some information.

The Doctor stood up, "We have some knowledge of what happened."

One knight walked over to them. He was a handsome man, with messed up brown hair and a beard. "Yes?"

The Doctor told the knight about what they saw in the forest. When the knight offered to give him money, the Doctor refused, stating he doesn't want to see a pound. ("Bleeding heroes" Hook muttered). The knight simply nodded before thanking him for the information and leaving.

Once the Doctor sat down, the four of them sat still until the knights left, taking most of the pub with them. Hook looked down at his drink before shaking his head, "Poor lass. Something always happens to her."

"Who? Snow White?" Emma asked. "I know that she ate that poison apple, but then Charming kissed her and everything was right with the world."

"Ah, but if only their story ended there," he replied. "Unfortunately, it did not."

"What happened next?" Rose asked, leaning forward. Even the Doctor settled in, waiting to hear the story.

"Well, I only know a few pieces. Life on the water, I don't always get the full gossip on land, and most times I hear it by accident," Hook informed them before he began. "But I believe I have this right. On the day of their wedding, the Evil Queen barged in and proclaimed that she would cast a curse that would make everyone miserable, except for her. Of course everyone was scared, but Snow and Charming kept their wits about them and within a few months, she was defeated and banished. However, her knights still travel to this part of the realm, mostly so she can get money or other debts back from whoever took from her."

"Like you?" Emma recalled.

"Aye. I do owe her, and I will pay her back, but I haven't been to the Jolly Roger. And now there are more pressing matters," he said with a small wink. Emma tried not to smirk before lightly shaking her head and urging him to continue.

"Well, the story continues that after the Evil Queen was defeated, Snow found out she was pregnant. They were of course so happy at the idea of bringing a new royal into the family and celebrated  every chance they got. But --"

"Someone barged in on their celebrations?" Emma guessed.

He nodded. "Pretty much. Rumplestitskin." Hook shook with anger, and Emma made a note to get back to why the old evil elf made the captain so furious. "He proclaimed that the child would never see the light of day."

"Why did he want the baby?" the Doctor asked. "Isn't that how the fairy tale goes? That he wanted the maiden's child?"

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "But that was somewhat different. That woman married into royal life and she had to guess his name, yeah?"

"Correct," Emma responded. "And she had to have three guesses, or something like that."

Hook raised an eyebrow at the three of them. "What in bloody hell are you talking about?"

"The story of Rumplestitskin," Emma responded.

"Well, my dear, the story with Snow White is quite different. You see, Rumplestitskin is also known as the Dark One."

Rose and the Doctor sat up straighter. "What does that mean?" Rose asked.

"Means he possesses all the dark magic. Nothing is too cruel for him."

"How awful," Emma muttered.

Hook nodded. "You don't know the half of it." It was clear by his tone of voice that there was a deeper meaning in his words, but once more Emma knew now was not the time to get into it. He then gave a small cough and the darkness that was in his eyes disappeared and he became the light Hook she was getting used to. "Anyway, the story goes that Rumplestitskin threaten their child, saying that if their child was born, they would always be a threat to him and therefore he would try to get rid of it."

"Oh my God," Rose gasped. The Doctor looked shocked as well, though he said nothing.

Emma asked, "Did he succeed?"

Hook gave a small shrug. "I believe he somewhat did. You see, the King and Queen had a daughter and had a celebration for her and everything. About a month after her birth, the Queen went to check on the princess during the night and found that she was missing. The entire kingdom went into a panic, and every square foot was looked over three times. But she was never found."

"She's still missing?" Rose asked.

Hook nodded. "Aye."

"What about Rumplestitskin? Did he take her? I mean, were they certain?" Emma asked.

"Well, that's the thing. They checked his quarters again and again and again, but there was no sign that the princess had ever been there. They captured him, I believe, and they have him in a cell. But...the princess is still missing and the King and Queen just never got over that. They still hope that one day their princess will return home. 

"What a sad story," Emma remarked.

Rose nodded in agreement before a thought accorded to her. "Wait. You said that Rumplestitskin wanted to get rid of the princess because she was a _threat_. How could a baby be a threat? Would it be like _Harry Potter_?"   

Hook tilted his head to the side before replying, "I have no idea who that is. But I can answer your first question. You see, the child was born out of True Love. And there is a theory that a child born from True Love will have magic unlike anyone has ever seen before. The purest of magic, to be exact. And only pure light magic can defeat dark magic."

"Which is why Rumple is shaking in his boots over a baby," Emma added.

Hook nodded. "Aye."

  
The Doctor finally said, "Well, we must go find Snow White and then maybe we can help find the lost princess."

  
"And where do you suggest we start, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Well, we start at the source. Let's find this Rumplestitskin."


End file.
